PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — People all over are suffering from allergies and complaining that the symptoms are getting worse.
Well, they can blame it on climate change.
A recent study from the National Academy of Sciences found the pollen season increased 20 days between 1990 and 2018.
Dr. John Kuryan, an allergist at Abington-Jefferson Health, sees the suffering firsthand.
“More people than ever are symptomatic, in part, because of the extremely high pollen counts,” he explained. “It’s clear that the pollen season started earlier and it’s lasting longer, and as such, it’s affecting more people to the point that they’re reaching out for medical care.”
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Pollen season normally starts in March, but this year it started in February.
“People that have said, ‘I never had allergies’ or ‘I may have had just very mild symptoms with my eyes and nose and breathing in years past,’ they’re coming in extremely symptomatic this year,” said Kuryan.
“I do think people are spending more time outdoors now, and as a result of that, their exposure is higher, their symptom load is higher, and they’re suffering more and they’re more miserable.”
He’s seeing more newly diagnosed asthma patients too, as pollen not only irritates the eyes and nose but also the respiratory system.
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